Yanchep Lagoon: cafe still few weeks away but refreshments are already being served

FULL services are still a few weeks away, but Yanchep Lagoon cafe operator Bernado Alalid has started serving refreshments this week.

The City of Wanneroo awarded Mr Alalid a six-month lease of the Brazier Road site in October after opting not to establish a long-term lease with the previous tenants and instead undertake a strategic review.

At the November 28 Two Rocks Yanchep Residents Association (TRYRA) meeting, councillor Linda Aitken said the City and lessee had been undertaking maintenance and repairs since signing the short-term lease on November 9.

Cr Aitken said the City had not realised the extent of maintenance required, so the cafe would not be fully operational for another two or three weeks.

However, she said Mr Alalid would start selling drinks, ice creams and some food, including barbecue meals from November 30 until new cooking appliances were installed.

Before taking up the lagoon lease, Mr Alalid owned and operated the Orion Cafe at the Whitford City shopping centre.

Cr Aitken said mobile coffee vans had been operating at Fisherman’s Hollow and that arrangement would continue until September 30, although they may not always been on site if there was not enough demand.

“They will go to wherever they will get more money,” she said.

TRYRA president Peter Wimsett said the vans had not been able to park there on a recent weekend.

In October, the association decided to write to the City asking it to waive parking fines in the lagoon area until parking upgrades were completed.

Cr Aitken said she had received a response from administration saying it would not waive fines for safety reasons.

“The City does not support an amnesty of parking fines as this may encourage illegal parking,” she said.

TRYRA secretary Lorraine Jackson said it was getting busier at the lagoon as the weather warmed up and there was not enough parking.

“I understand it’s a safety aspect (but) it’s not really fair for people to be fined for something they did not cause,” she said.

Mr Wimsett said the City should put up notices warning people they would receive fines for parking illegally as many had been caught unaware.

Cr Aitken said the City had excluded the lower carpark from the tender to complete the Yanchep Surf Life Saving Club.

“The City is trying to get the carpark behind the surf life saving club sorted as soon as possible,” she said.

Following complaints about the temporary scaffolding beach access stairs, the City installed and opened another set of temporary stairs in November.